Urban And Sick And Rural: Psychiatric Disturbances Affect Children In Areas With Especially Low Neighborhood Solidarity

For years, scientists have seen an association between city living and psychiatric disturbances such as schizophrenia in adults. Now they have investigated twins to see how much urban life is already affecting children. Especially two factors became apparent.

Almost all over the world, humans are moving into cities. Attracted by workspace, cultural opportunities, mobility, and medical care, nearly two out of three people will be living in cities worldwide by 2050. City planners and sociologists are not the only ones interested in the consequences of this shift. Studies have shown that city people have a nearly doubled risk for developing schizophrenia as compared to people living countryside. This can already be observed in children. But what is the reason? To identify the origins of this risk, psychologists have investigated the living situation of several hundred twins. Their summary: Psychiatric disturbances surface especially where a neighborly solidarity is missing and violence and crime were experienced.

More than 2000 children were included in a study by Candice Odgers and colleagues of Duke University as well as Helen Fisher from King’s College London. They all were derived from a scientifically well-characterized twin cohort in Great Britain, born between 1994 and 1995. To learn more about their social environment, scientists explored where the children were living. They asked their mothers, evaluated data from Google Street View, and sent thousands of questionnaires to neighbors within the same ZIP code area. They focused on four questions: How strong is support and solidarity in the neighborhood? Has there been trouble in the environment such as graffiti, vandalism, roisterous neighbors and heavy fights? How likely is intervention in case of problems? And do violence and crime happen in the surrounding?

Subsequently, the scientists attempted to identify through direct contact with the children who had already shown psychotic symptoms. When twins were 1 years old, they were asked to tell whether other people had read their thoughts at one occasion, or whether they had once heard voices that nobody else could hear. The result: 7.4% of children living in cities had developed at least one psychotic symptom such as hallucinations or delusions, while in children in a rural environment, this statistic was 4.4%. The biggest risk factor were crimes and a missing solidarity among neighbors; they could explain nearly one-fourth of the observed association, as the researcher explains in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin (1).

Overwhelmingly, not all children that exhibit a psychotic symptom will develop a psychosis later on. However, such early experiences increase the disease risk. Furthermore, it is established that these children will more likely suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and drug dependency later in life. This study will help us identifying characteristics of neighborhoods that may be dangerous for children’s health, explains Odgers. Since psychotic symptoms in children are rare, however, scientists are advised to explore other studies as well as other potential etiological factors, such as noise and air pollution.

Furthermore, it is important to identify the biological mechanisms that lay the groundwork for the observations. “Does continuous social stress in the neighborhood decrease the ability of the children to cope with such stressful experiences?” is one of the questions first author Joanna Newbury asks in a press release of her university. Respective hints are available.

Scientists at Heidelberg University, Germany, among them Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Director of the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, have shown in a study that people living and born in a city show a stronger activation of the amygdala and cingulate cortex that people living in a rural environment. Both brain areas participate in emotional processing. A stronger activation is not, per se, a problem. It is known, however, that such activation may also be associated with depression and anxiety disorders. In 2011, Meyer- Linderberg, senior author of the study, pointed out that the results provide a first hint towards a social stress system in the brain that may be the basis for the strong influence of an urban environment on psychiatric disturbances (2).

This is part 2 of a series covering twin health provided by Paul Enck from the Tübingen University Hospital and science writer Nicole Simon.

About The Author

Paul Enck

Paul Enck is Professor of Medical Psychology and Head of Research at the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Germany. His research focus is psychophysiology and neurogastroenterology (i.e. stress research, pain research, biofeedback applications, cortical imaging, eating disorders, functional gastrointestinal disorders and placebo research).

Nicole Simon

Nicole Simon, who studied biomedical science, has been writing for more than ten years as an independent science and medical journalist for various print and online media.

Never miss a story

Sign up for Science Trend's Monthly Digest and stay up to date with new posts.

How Crohn’s disease develops is still not really understood today. However, Swedish researchers say that a leaking intestinal wall could play an important role. When they have a relapse, their lives often just happen between bed and toilet. People who […]

Colorectal cancer is considered to be one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and it also has one of the highest mortality rates among malignant tumors. The Molecular Oncology group at the IMDEA Food Institute (Madrid) is especially interested in […]

The welfare of farmed animals is under increasing scrutiny from consumers as well as governmental and industry bodies and plays an important part in the sustainability of farming for the future. Millions of dairy calves are born worldwide every year, […]

Safe medical treatments are crucial tools in the fight against human diseases. Ensuring that medical treatments are safe inevitably requires investigating their effects on our most basic building blocks: cells. While using animals for research is useful and often necessary, […]

When you hear the word “fungus,” you might imagine the forgotten strawberry or piece of bread left in your refrigerator when you’re headed off to vacation. But the fungal kingdom represents much more than the fuzz on your bread. In […]

Science Trends connects scientists and their research with a global audience.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Accept | Read More

Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.